Everlasting
by Luiniliel
Summary: Seto Kaiba married the woman of his life, but lost her. Now 8 yrs later that son she took with her comes back, and he is forced to make promises... this time that will hopefully stay true. sporadic updates! no longer abandoned!
1. Promises

**Everlasting**

Prologue: New Beginnings

Seto Kaiba never felt feelings like this before. He just simply didn't understand it, this... this emotion. It was so difficult for him to express what came so naturally to her. _Her._

That word echoed through his thoughts and invaded the darkest recesses of his soul and heart. Yes, finally, at last cupid found the chink in that dragon's armor; found it right over his heart. The silver blue-ish scales that before harbored an impenetrable fortress were now close to exploding with emotion. It practically drove him mad.

His heart sped as he stopped to ring the doorbell. Kaiba, the once fearless duelist now quaked in his genuine Armani suit waiting for his girlfriend's father to open the door. His heart nearly skipped a beat, his knees nearly collapsed as it took a millennium for that doorknob to finish turning. He did not even bother to see who had stepped out as all of a sudden words rushed out of his mouth, towards his shoes.

A laugh. That was when Kaiba opened his eyes to see the floor, and the feet before him.

Lilliana stood there smiling at the mockery of her boyfriend. Always he seemed so strong and brave… and stubborn, but she knew, and could see through it all to the real him. She knew it drove him mad to be read so easily but she couldn't help it, it was if for the first time she felt what is was like to be complete, as though she found the missing half she never knew was missing before.

"Kaiba, you're late."

"I'm sorry." Kaiba choked back nervous spit before rushing over to the side of the porch to lean over the railing and vomit. Lilliana sighed and helped him, rubbing his back, and making sure he did not ruin his tux, or shoes, or her dress for that matter. When he was finished she helped him to the porch swing, and handed him that water one of his guards came rushing out of the limo with. Quickly he composed himself again and regained his normal posture and facial expression, although it masked all but his green-ish tint.

"Well, are you ready to go?"

"I thought your parents were going to be here."

"They were, but something came up and both my mom and dad had to go away on a business trip for something, or another. I think it was the new store they opened in London, I overheard a conversation about corrupt coding in the network, or something. she sighed I really don't care about it though."

"I see…" Kaiba offered her his arm as they walked towards his limo. Suddenly one of Kaiba's guards opened the trunk as Mokuba came flying out with a camera.

"Say cheese oniisan!" Mokuba snapped a few dozen pictures off with his professional, paparazzi camera he bought off one of them before taking off down the street. Through Kaiba's thinly veiled, to her at least, expression Lilliana saw the quick passing of a flash of anger, before he composed himself again, but it was not for long because just as he was composed Mokuba shouted out that he caught him vomiting in the bushes. That's when Kaiba gave up his inhibitions and took chase. Mokuba had it planned out one full step ahead though as he quickly reached the end of the block and hopped into another one of Kaiba's cars passing by and told the driver to gun it. (Of course he had it planned, he WAS a Kaiba after all.)

Lilliana tried to hide her laughter. It was rare she got to see the two Kaiba bothers together, acting like normal siblings would. Normally Kaiba always tried to remain composed in front of her, but Mokuba always managed to relax Seto, or at least make him angry.

&&#$#(

Seto sat up in bed. He turned to his right and touched the shoulder of his wife.

"Lilliana." His voice came out in a half-whisper through the night. Slowly an arm shot out and touched the switch on a lamp, lighting a soft glow across the room. The sleepy woman sat up and slowly faced him, her sluggish movement revealing how deeply sleeping she once was.

"What is it Seto-kun, did you have that nightmare again?"

Seto looked into the eyes of a different woman from the one in his dream. His face betrayed nothing as he calmly answered.

"No, I'm sorry to wake you Atashi-chan." Seto stood up from bed and walked towards his study. Once there, in the safety of his sanctuary, he began to ask himself again, '_How long ago was it?'_

Seto checked the calendar, which held the explanation for his dream.

"Today is the 27th of April. My son was born on this day 12 years ago, and 5 years before that was when I took my first wife to prom… and, 8 years ago was when my first wife finally divorced me…" His heart felt like lead as he stopped and sat down on his couch. The phone line in his study rang and he answered it, already knowing what to expect.

"Ohayo! Oniisan, do you need to talk this year?" Seto felt inclined to hang up immediately.

"No, ototo. I believe I'm fine this year. I have to respect Lilliana's wishes and get over her… and not try to contact her again."

"Hai, oniisan, I believe that would be wise, I also think you should go back to bed."

"Mokuba, since when do you think you can start to order me around?"

"Since… good point. Eh, I'll give you a list of reasons why in the morning before work. Bye."

Seto hung up the phone and retreated down into his personal safety room in his office. Inside it was a safe that held his most important papers, and prototypes, and even inside that was a smaller safe that held his own personal belongings. Slowly he turned lock on the smaller case, turning the dial almost by touch.

Inside were his most precious possessions: pictures of Lilliana while she was still his wife, pictures of Julian when he was still a baby, Lilliana in her wedding gown, a tape of Julian's birth, Lilliana on their honeymoon, Julian's first birthday, Lilliana breast feeding Julian, Seto holding Julian, all three of them together for the last photo ever taken as a happy family, but at least he thought they were happy…

Seto turned to close the door to his safety room. He locked himself in it and began to cry, for the one and only woman he had ever loved, and the son he was never a father for, and never gotten a chance to be a father to.

#&#$(

Ok, I believe it has been about 5mo since I last updated any stories of mine, and about 2 or 3 yrs since I created a new one… I suppose I can't really guarantee too much… but this story means a lot to me and I plan to see it through. It will also probably be really short though…

R+R!


	2. Morning and Goodbye

_I need to keep my promises more. I don't really remember the storyline for this so I'm going to have to play it by ear almost. At best I can promise maybe 5 chapters before summer ends. No, I don't own YuGiOh, but if I'd did why would I be writing this crap…_

* * *

Mokuba knew his Oniisan well enough to hear the lie behind his voice. Sure Seto could be a mean, self-obsessive, sore loser, but he was Mokuba's mean, self-obsessive, sore loser. He immediately showered after Seto hung up the phone on him and hopped into his Porsche. He let the top down on his convertible and allowed his long hair to blow freely behind him.

Slowly his thoughts had to drift back to the reason why Seto was so downtrodden after so long. Seto would hate to admit but he can be very honorable at times, something Mokuba was sure became instilled in him after losing to Yugi for so many times, and all pretty much for the same reason. However, his sister had already known the good in Seto and managed for a while to bring it out of him. Most definitely she handled things way differently than his current sister-in-law. Mokuba would never admit it to Seto but he still considered Lilliana to be his true sister.

Truthfully he wasn't at all too surprised when Lilliana left him. Everyone had known for months before the wedding that Lilliana wouldn't stand for much of Seto's business practices. Not that he was a bad boss; he was just too serious about work and a complete and total workaholic, something that had to be a remnant of taking over their stepfather's business at so young an age. However for a long while they were happy and it was contagious. So that all who had any doubts in their minds quickly put their assumptions away and felt as though it was a match made in heaven, to survive anything and everything that they may ever be put through.

Mokuba smiled at the thought. They made a rather happy family. And in the end he was so proud to become an uncle.

He stepped out of his car and went to the familiar mansion digging around in his pockets for the key. He quietly let himself in and sneaked up to Seto's office. He wasn't surprised to see Seto curled on the floor amid his personal pictures of Lilliana and Julian. He quickly picked them up and locked them away in the safe again, less Atashi see them and grow worried.

Slowly Seto stirred and was greeted in the face by a very bright and peppy ototo.

"Wake-y, wake-y oniisan! I knew I'd find you here like this."

Seto looked pleasantly pissed indeed, "Ototo, I said I didn't need your help."

"That's what you said last year when I found you lying here asleep in your own tears, and the same thing happened a year before that, and a year before that. Oniisan, I do believe I'm starting to see a pattern." Mokuba acted surprised and let out a fake gasp.

Seto paid him no attention and casually looked around to check and see if Mokuba had locked everything up. He then tried to stand and was immediately greeted by a loud pop in his lower back. "Ototo, give me your hand so I can get up."

Mokuba grinned cheekily at him. "I thought you said you didn't need my help oniisan."

"That was before I heard something pop in my back ototo. "

Mokuba quickly helped Seto to his feet and guided him towards a leather couch. There he laid Seto down and waited for the pop to be heard. Mokuba winced as this time it sounded more like a crunch. "Oniisan, something crunched in your back."

"I know ototo," responded a deflated Seto, "I think I just sat on a chip you left behind from last time." Mokuba laughed as he remembered the reason for having chips too. He tried to cover it quickly with a cough as Atashi-chan walked into the room.

Atashi was an interesting woman, as long as you held her attention for long enough. Otherwise she was pretty and very bored. An a-stereotypical trophy wife. She knew she was nothing compared to Seto's first wife, and that was a thought that tormented her to no end. She knew that Seto still harbored feelings for his first wife and wouldn't hesitate to leave her. She also knew that Seto married her to please the business community and keep up an image of virility. So the first chance she got she through a major hissy fit and burned almost everything of her predecessor's that was left behind. It was stupid at the time, and almost got her thrown out on her ass, but she made up for it in due time. So far she has had several miscarriages, and all for "unknown" reasons.

Atashi opened her mouth to speak, "Ototo, I didn't realize I would see you here." Her voice dripped honey and practically gave Mokuba tooth decay instantaneously.

Mokuba responded just as sweetly, "Atashi-chan, I didn't realize you still worked. Isn't it a bit late out to be walking?"

This confused Atashi. Mokuba knew she never worked a day in her life, he also knew she never walked anyplace she could be driven to. She opened her mouth to speak, but decided it better to stay quiet and look pretty. It took her hours later to figure out what her idiot brother-in-law meant.

She starred into her vanity mirror and wanted to practically scream in anger. She has never street walked in her life!

* * *

_Several Cities Away_

A young man stood vigilantly at his mother's side and waited for her to finish dry heaving. He wiped her mouth when she was done and inserted a straw into her mouth again, wordlessly instructing her to continue drinking water. She weakly shook her head and pushed his hands away.

"Musuko. It is time. I am too weak and too tired. I want you to go to my safe deposit box. There are papers to explain everything to you."

Her son shook his head and was about to respond.

"Musuko, go now. It will make things easier for you in the end."

The woman watched with tired eyes as she saw her son grimly walk out of her room, his backpack thrown angrily over his shoulder. Slowly she faded, and fell into the darkness waiting to consume her.

A few moments later the nurse walked in to find that she had slipped into a coma, and a few moments after the doctor confirmed that she could not be awoken again.

* * *

_Well… I'll try to update as soon as possible. R+R!_


	3. In London

I don't own Yugioh.  
This story has not been worked on in years, but just looking through what fics, ideas, finished, unfinished, etc things I have I realize that I do really want to try to finish this story. Admittedly, it has been a while, and I don't remember what I had originally planned, but I do have an idea of where I want this to be headed. When I do update this, it will be sporadic, but it will not be like the abandonment of before.

* * *

Julian walked out of the hospital angrily, kicking at the cement that shifted underneath his feet with each step. A short hop on the tube and exit Tottenham Court Road Station to Oxford Street and the flagship store his grandparents owned took enough time for him to get a grip on his emotions and relax. It also helped that the large crowds wandering the street made him feel like he could get lost without a care in the world. Julian felt like he had far too many worries for his age, but most importantly it was his mother that weighed heavily on his mind. 'Mum,' Julian thought as his feet instinctively led him past the large crowds exiting the Oxford Street Tube Station, people jostling by in general, and free newspapers being pressed on him by hard working men and women.

"Hello Mr. Takawa, is there anything I could do for you?" Julian was met by one of the lovely assistants that worked in the store. He was there often, and despite growing into an increasingly hormonal boy, the staff still thought of him as an incredibly cute, atrocious boy that ran around playing with the gadgets on display.

"No, thanks love, would you happen to know if my grandparents are in?" She shook her head no and Julian continued further into the back of the store towards the employee section, taking the lift into the offices on the sixth floor. The lift dinged and the doors opened. "Hey Nana, is Lao Ye still in the office?"

Mrs. Sayuri Takawa smiled at her grandson trapped between different cultures. He was a quarter Japanese and quarter Chinese from his mother, and a quarter Italian and quarter Japanese, again, from his father. He spoke British English fluently, Mandarin acceptably, and could manage in Japanese well enough to go to the bathroom, he could definitely use more help in Japanese though. _"Your grandfather is still in his office, he'll probably leave in time for dinner though."_ She spoke this in Japanese; couldn't have her husband winning the language war.

Julian picked out a few words he recognized and guessed at what she was telling him. "Lao Ye left the office and will eat dinner somewhere?" His Nana pinched his cheek and shook it gently.

"No, he'll be eating dinner with us, but until then he's going to be in the office."

"Oh, I knew that." Julian rubbed his ear a bit ashamedly, a habit he had developed whenever he became nervous or embarrassed.

"I'll be waiting in the hospital for you and your grandfather with your mother." Julian nodded and kissed his grandmother on the cheek goodbye before the elevator doors closed. Julian then checked in with his grandfather, getting the keys to his mother's office from him. Julian felt shaky as he left his backpack off on his mothers abnormally pristine desk. He removed the large portrait of himself off of the wall and started to unlock the safe. Inside was cash, some jewelry, documents, and a smaller safe inside of it. Julian opened that up and pulled out manila folders of information: documents, birth certificates, resident documentation, photo albums and a heavy shoe box. Julian looked through everything, pulling out anything with his name on it. There was his medical information and educational information along with the shoe box that had his name on it. Julian delicately undid the strings on the bulging package to be met with a large amount of letters addressed to him, a familiar seal stuck on the upper left-hand side of each envelope.

"Why would mum keep this from me?" Julian spoke softly to himself in the empty, quiet office. He got up and put on the radio before opening a letter that was on top and dated recently. A birthday card fell out of it, or at least Julian thought it was a birthday card. He could barely begin to understand the spoken Japanese language, much less begin to learn all of the characters to read it. All he understood was the cupcake and candle bit. Julian opened it and was pleased to find that it was in English.

The letter seemed to start off well enough...

My dear Julian,

I am so sorry I can not make it to your birthday party this year. I am sure that you will find turning twelve to be absolutely amazing, and soon your world will explode in a rush of excitement and hormones. Childhood is nearly ending and your formative teenage years will see you grow into a strong, intelligent man. I just want you to know that whatever happens I love you and think of you constantly. You are my light in this dark world and I look forward to someday meeting you again. It seems so long since I held you as a baby and I can hardly imagine how amazing you must look right now. I love you so much and I regret not being the father I should be for you.

I hope all of your wishes and dreams come true.

Your father,

Seto Kaiba

P.S. Please ignore your crazy uncle Mokuba.

Julian's hands visible shook making it difficult to read the crazy scrawl on the other side of the card, no, it was the tears that started to form. Julian always wanted a father. He was too little to remember well but he remembers a tall, strong man lifting him into the air and twirling him around before setting him on his shoulders and kissing his mom. He remembers someone tucking him in at night and kissing his forehead. Julian remembered being sad and afraid when all of his toys were packed in large suitcases and taken on a plane to England.

Julian now sobbed. He wanted a father so badly his heart and head ached and now, he had one. He had one all along. This one memory now stuck out clearly in his mind, it was Christmas and he asked Santa Claus to bring him a father, he remembered just how heartbroken he was to wake up on Christmas Day and not find a father waiting for him underneath the tree. It hurt, it hurt so much that Julian never quite got over it and Julian cried some more because that six year old inside of him was still sitting underneath a tree with toy truck on his lap crying for a father that didn't exist at the time.

A knock on the door caused Julian to look up, his eyes were bloodshot and his nose was sniffling. Wen Takawa took one look at the distraught boy in front of him and knew. Wen wasn't normally a very expressive man, but with no one around what harm could it do to let his only grandchild sob into his chest?

And Julian cried, and cried. The nearly forgotten card clutched tightly in his hand, now beaten and torn around his clutched fist.

He just couldn't let it go. It was the only connection Julian had to a father he had not met in years.

* * *

I hope I caught the emotion right. I cried a little while writing this I'm ashamed to say. Please review if you should feel so inclined, it would be much appreciated.


End file.
